The present invention relates to a safety construction for airplanes, in particular with regard to the avoidance of excess pressure differentials between upper and lower compartments.
Modern aircraft are constructed in such a way that the interior of the fuselage is divided longitudinally by an intermediate floor. The space above is usually the passenger compartment while the space below is provided for freight and baggage storage. Both zones, or compartments, are usually kept at a higher-than-outside pressure, particularly for flights at higher altitudes, which is normally the case. Normally closed panels cover venting openings near the edges and from above. In the case of a sudden pressure loss within the lower compartment, these panels are automatically unlocked from a normally locked state. Its purpose is to equalize the pressure between the passenger and the baggage compartments in order to prevent floor blowout. A review of these types of devices and equipment was published in "FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL," Dec. 4, 1976, pages 1646 to 1649. The review covers several of the presently used wide-body airplanes.
In addition, German printed patent application No. 26 14 814 discloses such an arrangement, whereby particularly the cover panels are constructed in order to also serve as guide vanes for the air-conditioning of the passenger compartment. They are specifically constructed as double-wall flaps. These flaps are hinged to the interior wall of the aircraft and are fixed in position by means of springs, or other means. These vanes are slightly inclined. In order to prevent their being accidentally hit by a passenger, a covering grid is rigidly affixed above the panel, facing the interior of the compartment.